Penguin Classics will add Marvel comics to its collection

Seriously, if I had told my mom growing up that the comics I read, reprinted by Marel UK for UK newsagents, would one day be reprinted by Penguin Classics, she wouldn’t believe me. Maybe she still doesn’t believe me. Let’s find out.

Penguin Classics is an imprint under which classic works of literature are reissued, with the books in this series considered important members of the Western canon. The first Penguin Classic was the translation of The Odyssey by EV Rieu, published in 1946, and Rieu became the editor of the series. Rieu sought out literary novelists such as Robert Graves and Dorothy Sayers as translators, believing they would avoid “the archaic flavor and foreign idiom that makes many existing translations repulsive to modern taste.” And now? The collected works of Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Publisher’s Weekly reports that The Penguin Classics Marvel Collection will bring together “the original and founding stories of key Marvel characters” and marks the first time that Penguin Classics has published comic book stories of any description.

The first three volumes of the series, Black Panther, Captain America, and The Amazing Spider-Man, will be published on June 14, 2022 in paperback with the Penguin’s black back and a collectible hardcover edition.

Each volume will also include a foreword by Jason reynolds for Spider-Man, Nnedi Okorafor for Black Panther, and Gene Luen Yang for Captain America, as well as academic introductions to the work of the series editor, professor of English at the University of Oregon Ben saunders for Captain America and The Amazing Spider-Man and Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina Qiana J. Whitted for Black Panther. More titles will be announced at a later date.

Elda rotor, vice president and publisher of Penguin Classics, said in a statement, “When we talk about what makes a classic, we consider the work’s ability to connect with an audience over time, in a way that both universal and individual. Marvel’s sustained and rich engagement with generations of readers, one who also provides a critical social lens, a deeply personal reflection of the human condition, and a shared reading experience of such storytelling and artistic innovation, is a super power. For example, you can just say, “Spider-Man,” and that opens up a whole world of story and understanding. To me, that makes a Marvel classic a penguin classic. opportunity to put the work of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby and many other historic Marvel creators on shelves alongside world classics marks a very special chapter in the history of Marvel ‘Penguin Edition. “

All they have to do is ship them safely.